Forever and Always
by Miko Potter
Summary: They promised to always be together, but what happens when fate interfeeres? Inspired by the song forever and always by parachute.


First spirited away fic! Inspired on the song forever and always by parachute. Ok some things you need to know Haku and Chihiro got together in the human world and lived together and Rin somehow (don't ask how) stumbled in the human world with no memories of her past life. Haku and Chihiro decided not to tell her anything. This one is for those who didn't get their happy ending, thanks to Nati as usual, for standing all my babbling without throwing anything at me and telling me to listen to parachute. Thanks to Libby16 for letting me steal Kyoko for a little while, I recommend her stories to you, they're amazing. Before anyone tries to sue me...no I'm not Hayao Miyazaki, I have proof...starting out with the fact I'm a girl!...so yeah the characters and story still belong to him, and the song "forever and always isn´t mine either", and I hope no one tries to sue me for using quotes from the bible. Enjoy!

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><p>Please help me, if you see any mistakes just tell me. People who're reading this for the first time ignore this. If you've read this before, thanks for giving this a second chance, I hope it improved, I tweaked it around a bit, fixed the spelling and a bit of grammar, so enjoy!<p>

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><p>Haku was worried. It wasn´t usual, nor did he like it, but he was. Chihiro wasn´t home yet. She was supposed to be here over an hour and a half ago. She was <em>never<em> late, especially on an important date like today, and even on those strange occasions she was she always called to tell him. He felt bad, something was wrong. He knew. He didn't know how he just _knew. _He looked out to the driveway, but no sign of her. He decided to go to Rin's house, their neighbor, Chihiro's co-worker, and family friend. Maybe she knew something. He walked out and saw her getting out of her car with a couple grocery bags in her arms, he called her over and she said "hey…" she was about to taunt him as usual between them, but something in his eyes stopped her from doing so, she was about to ask what was wrong but he asked

"Do you know if Chihiro was still at the office when you left?" he tried to keep it casual. It dawned on her the reason of his concern. And she regretted having to say the next words she said

"No, she left maybe an hour before I did. Why? Anyhing wrong?" she asked despite the fact she knew something was definitely wrong. He shook his head, but she saw something break in his eyes, she knew even though he never liked showing it, or anything really, that Chihiro was the most important thing in the world to him. She watched him go back into his house and entered her own with a rather heavy heart. She only hoped she showed up soon or he'd start fretting. Back in his house, Haku kept looking at the window and checking the phone. He couldn't help it, he was nervous. When he walked into the kitchen the phone rang and an incredibly sweet and soft voice spoke clearly "Mr. Knohaku Nushi?" he inhaled deeply

"Yes?"

"This is Kiyoko from the Natsu hospital, are you Chihiro Ogino's husband?"

He fought to keep his voice steady as he said "Yes" whilst looking at the ring on his finger.

"I'm calling to inform you, your wife´s just been checked in, I think it's better if you came" His eyes widened but he kept his voice more or less steady as he said "Of course" and in that moment Kiyoko felt horrible for being the messenger of ill fate, one would think she'd get used to it, but you never could.

His mind started drifting off, and he began to recall that special day not so long ago. They had been near the river sitting with their feet in the water, the colors around them beautiful, much more than any paintwork could be, her head on his shoulder. He began playing with the water and her hair. He made the water dance around them and saw the joy in her eyes, it made him swell with happiness as well, he wanted to make this moment perfect, memorable, because tonight was incredibly special.

"Why are you doing this?" he smiled at his precious one.

"I'm happy"

"Why?"

"Tonight´s special" he stated simply, it made her curiosity peak.

"Really" he nodded "why?"

"You ask too many questions, listen before speaking" she frowned lightly.

"Who should I listen to?"

"The river" her frown deepened.

"Why? What does it say?" He shook his head and smiled softly.

"Close your eyes and listen carefully" she did as she was told, and at first she heard nothing, but then a soft rustling became a soft voice and she gripped Haku´s arm tightly

"Haku I can hear it!"

"What does it say?" he said smiling lightly.

"It says….will…..you….will you…..do you..." she was frowning, suddenly her eyes opened widely and she looked at Haku with shock.

"Do you want to marry me..." the words came as a whisper from her mouth and Haku, who was on his knees asked

"Do you?" while he opened the little black velvet box showing a small silver ring with a midnight blue stone on it, she smiled tears of joy springing to her eyes, so excited she couldn't speak properly, so instead she nodded, and fell into his arms.

He caught up with reality again as he pulled up at the entrance of the hospital. He walked in and asked for Chihiro, a nurse that looked really young called Kiyoko was told to take him where Chihiro was, and he numbly recalled her being the one who called him, the girl had beautiful eyes, that were filled with both wisdom beyond her years and the innocence of a child, he guessed they were usually filled with joy as well, but now they were solemn. She said "follow me" and as he did she proceeded to explain

"Your wife was in an accident, a drunken driver hit her, he passed away in the crash, your wife isn't much better I'm afraid, she's badly hurt, we don't think she'll make it through the night, we have our best medics tending to her", then she turned to him, "It'll be alright" she probably didn't believe it herself, but he nodded on appreciation of her efforts. His eyes began to burn and he blinked back the tears threatening to fall, he sat where the nurse pointed and he was told to wait. In that moment his cell phone rang, he picked it up seeing it was Rin, she began talking without even letting him say hello

"Haku is Chihiro home yet?" he almost broke but he managed to answer

"No I'm at the hospital, she had an accident…" he couldn't go on, and Rin seemed to understand because she said

"I'll be there in ten…no five" and she hung up. He thought of Rin, now and before, she had always been there for them and she was attached to his little flower as much as himself…if he lost her…he didn't know what he'd do. He knew this day would come, it was bound to happen someday, but he didn't expect it to come this fast…to end like this. She was his world, she had found him and led him back to the light, losing her would mean losing himself as well and if he was lost again, no one would be able to bring him back…it would be worse than losing his river, and yet he knew he could do nothing and he hated it, he hated the feeling of helplessness, not being able to do anything but rely on others with his precious one's life. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Rin's warm, fiery eyes, she looked at him and she hugged him, something he would usually not allow, but he needed the physical contact, it was something to hold on to.

"It'l be alright, you'll see" he barely heard it. They waited together for minutes that seemed too long. Then Kiyoko's voice came out to him

"You can come in now" her eyes softened, he got up and walked behind Kiyoko, Rin following closely, he tried to keep himself together and some part of him thanked Kami (one of the many he knew) for the women's

s presence, it seemed to hearten him, he found them comforting. He entered the room and saw her, attached to many cables, her arms and neck bandaged, her face full of bruises and scratches, his heart dropped to his stomach on the sight, but he tried to remain calm, if only for now. He hurried to her bedside, took one of her frail hands into both of his own and kissed it tenderly, he held on a bit too tight, but he didn't care, he didn't want to let go, every passing second he found it harder to keep him together. He spoke softly "hey" she smiled

"I´m sorry" she said, he stared at her in disbelief, why on earth should he apologize? It was him who should say sorry. "Ruined our special night" of course, typical her, of course his little flower would say sorry, always thinking of her before others.

"Don´t worry, we´ll have another special night, there are still many to come" she just smiled a bit sadly

"I remember our vows a year ago, do you?" he nodded even when he wasn´t very sure why they came up

"we´ll always be together, always, we´ll grow old together, we would live in a house like the one you lived in back then we´ll stay here for each other, we´ll never forget how lucky we are to have each other, and I´d always protect you and love you always…always" his voice broke. He had promised to love her and protect her always but he hadn´t, he had made those promises exactly a year ago, and tonight was their anniversary. She almost smiled. He got an idea, Kiyoko had said chances were she wouldn´t make it through the night… He spoke quietly to Kiyoko who nodded and smiled, walking out of the room. She came back with four or five nurses, the chaplain and she handed something to Haku. The chaplain began reciting softly

_There are three things that amaze me—  
>no, four things that I don't understand:<br>how an eagle glides through the sky,  
>how a snake slithers on a rock,<br>how a ship navigates the ocean,  
>how a man loves a woman.<em>

_Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned._

_And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the __greatest of these is love_

The nurses and Rin were smiling, eyes moist with emotion, Haku let a tear fall too and he took a deep breath and said "I´ll love you forever, through the good and the bad and the ugly, we´ll grow old together, in our house by the river, and we´ll remember when we were young and laugh together, and smile at our adventures, I´ll always be by your side" he stopped talking, he couldn't go on anymore, he put a ring in her finger and put the other one on she looked at him

"I´d grow old by your side, forever is a really long time for you, but I´ll love you just as long, even if I´m not there, Haku, I want you to be happy…always" suddenly the beeps from the monitor began to slow down, the nurses rushed around and told him to go outside, he broke and the composture he had fought so hard to keep left him, he panicked and it took Kiyoko and Rin´s combined efforts to get him out and he began crying, because he felt he was losing her, and he couldn´t if he did, he´d lose himself again, he knew it. They waited for minutes that felt the longest he had lived. The a doctor followed by Kiyoko walked out looking crestfallen and Haku knew, he felt it and Kiyoko confirmed it saying

"We're sorry, we tried the best we could but…" her voice broke "she didn´t make it" and in that moment Haku´s world broke and he was sent spiraling out of control, a grief like he had never known puncturing his heart. Rin let out a small sob and she looked at the broken man on her side, she prayed for him so that someday someone would bring him out of his grief, she would certainly do everything in her power, but she feared that wouldn´t be enough. Somehow the worst part was that he would keep his promise, he´d love her forever and always, but that meant he would suffer forever and always.

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><p>I may write a sequel for this...Don´t know, but if you want me to please say so!<p>

Thank you Libby 16 and Tora No Musume for your reviews!

Hope you liked it, please PLEASE review I beg of you, you don´t have to write much, I just need to know! Thanks and bye! Like I said any suggestions to make it better are more than welcome.


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